37/32
When a literature teacher is faced with a complaint from a teenage student about inappropriate behavior, he has to fight to protect his name, his position at school, and his long-term homosexual relationship, which no one knows about. Based on the true story of a teacher, Teddy Lucie-Modeste, who co-wrote and directed the film. The story happened to him in 2019 at a school in Seine-Saint-Denis (in the northern suburbs of Paris). A 13-year-old girl accused him of touching his belt while watching her, one of her older brothers threatened him, another took her to the police station to file a complaint, and all the teachers went on strike. Like the main character, Julien, he feared for his life every time he left school, but he didn’t want to stop working because he felt that this was an admission of guilt, and he was also afraid of his colleagues who would take him to the subway. Reference Son of India (1962). I didn’t really like the way the story was built throughout the film. It had potential, but it was wasted. It ends without an ending and without a conclusion, and it should have one. In my opinion, it’s not worth going to the cinema. I saw it at the Varilux French Film Festival in São Paulo, Brazil. The performances are good, but the characters end up becoming clichés. During the film, we were annoyed by the fact that the main character was stupid and innocent, and we wanted to shout at him not to be such a fool. What stood out was the children, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, who well portrayed the evil, pain and guilt that can torment everyone at this age.